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Areas in Canada likely to be worst hit
by a large Ug99 outbreak include much
of southern Manitoba and southeast
Saskatchewan. A somewhat lesser threat
faces Alberta’s southerly parklands
and grasslands, as well as southwest
Saskatchewan.
Unlike earlier
times in Canada,
the impact of a stem
rust outbreak could
be mitigated by the
use of fungicides.
However, since Ug99
only takes eight to 10 days to produce a
new batch of spores, frequent spraying
could be necessary.
“It’s not that we would need to panic,
because frankly, a lot of growers are
spraying fungicides on their crops now,”
Fetch said. “But this would increase the
cost of production.”
Efforts to prepare for the arrival
of Ug99 are also well underway in
the United States. Erick De Wolf, an
extension plant pathologist at Kansas
State University, said the U.S. is quite well
prepared for a Ug99 outbreak following
five years of preparation, although some
work remains.
“We’ve
developed resistant
varieties, and
tested fungicides
and application
technologies as we
begin to prepare,”
he said. “There’s also
an education effort to communicate
some of that to growers.”
Similarly, Montana farmer Bing Von
Bergen, president of America’s National
Association of Wheat Growers, said
everyone is taking the threat seriously.
“The industry is aware that if it does get
to the United States, it’s going to have
devastating crop losses,” he said. “We’ve
seen the pictures of the devastation in
parts of the world where it is prevalent,
and it’s horrible.”
Unlike Canada, the United States has
in place the
Recovery Plan for Stem Rust
of Wheat
. This public document was
prepared in response to a Homeland
Security Presidential Directive. The
27-page plan includes vital information
on the stem rust life cycle, how stem
rust spreads and how to recognize it. It
also has information on resistant strains,
charts detailing the effectiveness of
various fungicides on Ug99, and a list of
recognized experts in the field.
Despite years of research and
vigilance, Bhavani said the battle with
this crop disease will never really end. He
said plant pathologist and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Norman Borlaug put it best:
“Stem rust never sleeps.”
“Scientists and farmers must keep
on observing as rusts develop new
strategies in the arms race of host and
pathogen,” Bhavani said.
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“Stem rust never
sleeps.”
–Norman Borlaug